


galaxies collide

by LoneWulffe



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-23 00:52:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11978658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoneWulffe/pseuds/LoneWulffe
Summary: Out of all the five senses, touch is the most underappreciated one in Kara's opinion. Mon-El's presence in her life just proves it.





	galaxies collide

**Author's Note:**

> No betas as usual so please direct all error notifications/blame my way.
> 
> For the sake of preventing this fic from becoming an almost complete recap piece, the story weaves in and out of canon events and the established timeline. Hopefully you've memorised your Karamel moments and milestones. (Who am I kidding? We ALL know them by heart now.)

> “ _your hand_
> 
> _touching mine._
> 
> _this is how_
> 
> _galaxies_
> 
> _collide.”_
> 
> _– Sanober Khan_

 

* * *

 

There are a number of reasons why Kara finds herself thankful that Mon-El is... well, not that bad of a person and the two of them are making an effort to get along despite the old rivalry between their planets and the prejudices that went with it.

In fact, the ancient Krypton-Daxam rivalry is one such reason she's glad they're trying to be friends. After the admittedly contemptible way she'd treated him at the start and the handful of times she'd continued to hold his origins against him, she's come to realise that she's got a few issues of her own to work out. It's a small miracle her behaviour hasn't made him decide he wants nothing to do with her so she's not about to waste this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to prove they can rise above a bitter feud that has nothing to do with them as individuals.

She hadn't been lying either when she'd told him about still feeling a little disheartened over not having been able to watch over Kal as he grew up. Instead, she'd been the one who'd needed looking after courtesy of Kal of all people and the Danvers. Being the little sister instead of the only child had certainly been an experience but she'd continued to feel like she was missing out on something truly special.

Mon-El almost literally dropping into her life had presented her with a chance to make up for that. While the age gap doesn't apply – precise calculations are hard because of their unique situations but she's almost sure he's still slightly older than her – she gets to be the mentor considering she's been through the whole 'waking up on Earth with superpowers' ordeal. (Not as if that had stopped her from thoroughly messing up her first attempt though... but she likes to think she's improved on her mentoring abilities a little since then at least.)

Furthermore, him not only being from Daxam but also having been an adult when he'd left his planet albeit involuntarily allows her to talk about home with someone who actually knows it. Kal had left Krypton as a baby so everything he knows about their planet comes from records; talking to him about it feels a bit like talking to a more responsive version of her mother's hologram. It just makes her even more homesick.

Mon-El, however, is different. He knows the precise shades of colour the sky had turned as Rao set at the end of every day, the smell of the maejlis flowers which had only grown in their part of the galaxy, the taste of freshly baked ruem which Krypton and Daxam had also argued over who had the right to claim it as their creation – all the small details that truly define 'home'. They even have their fair share of playful arguments over silly things like whose favourite Garata team would've won in a match-up. (In one particular exchange, she'd bashfully admitted to him that she'd once told her parents that she wanted to be a professional Garata player when she grew up, much to their amused shock. He'd laughed for a good five minutes.)

The one reason that she won't admit to anyone though – she's even reluctant to admit it to herself, for that matter – is much simpler.

She can feel his touch.

Well, if she's being completely fair and totally honest, she definitely can feel it when the random alien of the week attacking National City gets a lucky hit in on her. It's neither fun or friendly.

Not that Kara thinks of Mon-El's touches as fun, of course – maybe friendly on the rare occasions they do touch intentionally like a high five but absolutely not fun in that way. Or any way. It's just that it's really nice to have someone around who happens to be on the same strength level as her and doesn't want to use said strength to kill her.

Of course, J'onn falls into that overly small category too but it's not the same. She's painfully aware that as much as he cares for her and vice versa, physical contact is a rare thing and reserved only for special occasions. Part of it has to do with the fact that he belongs to a telepathic race which had little use for it and the other part stems from his personal traumas. It's a subject that she doesn't broach for obvious reasons.

On the other hand, Mon-El is completely fine with it, something which she attributes to Daxam's extremely lax approach to physical contact and the issue of personal space in general. By his planet's standards, Earth is pretty prudish although she's noticed that the many kinds of handshakes he witnesses on a regular basis intrigues him.

To say that she takes advantage of this fact isn't necessarily true... but it's not entirely wrong either.

Kara is willing to admit that she finds any and every excuse she can to initiate even the slightest bit of physical contact although she does try her best to at least be subtle about it. After all, there's nothing suspicious about her standing or walking close to him so that their hands might accidentally brush against each other, right? And physical contact is totally expected during sparring sessions. The same goes for when two people are working together in close proximity especially when a computer or phone screen is involved; it's only natural for them to bump against each other every now and then.

It's the sense of normalcy it gives her, she reasons. When she's interacting with anyone else – and, to be frank, almost every single non-alien object on Earth – she has to be oh-so-careful about how much force she puts into even the smallest gestures. Everything from holding a pen and tapping on the keyboard to hugging Alex and poking Winn in the arm requires so much self-control on her part that sometimes she just finds it all so _exhausting_.

With Mon-El, she can relax and not overthink every little action. It's nice and that's all there is to it.

She just hopes no one notices anything.

 

* * *

 

Alex notices. Of course she does.

“So...” the older Danvers sister drawls as she watches Kara unpack their dinner during one of their obligatory weekly sisters-only nights. “You've been spending quite a bit of time with Mon-El lately.”

Something about Alex's tone immediately puts Kara on guard even though she's not quite sure why. “Yes, well, I'm his mentor after all,” she answers warily. “Apart from his training, there's still a lot of Earth customs and other stuff we haven't covered so it's taking a while.”

“Of course.” There's a certain slyness to Alex's response and smile which is as mystifying as it is irritating. “It just surprised me a little to find that your idea of mentoring required you to be so... close all the time.”

 _Act oblivious_ , Kara mentally chants as she puts on her best 'I have no idea what you're talking about' face and pointedly avoids eye contact while giving the impression that she's completely focused on pouring out their drinks. “Of course we have to be close! I mean, how am I supposed to teach him things like how to use the phone if I'm all the way on the other side of the room?”

Alex nods sagely. “That makes complete sense,” she concedes readily and Kara breathes an internal sigh of relief- “That is, except for the fact that every single time I see you teaching him anything there's so little space between the two of you that you look like you're one step away from either hugging him or sitting in his lap.”

Kara barely avoids dropping the glass she is holding at that. “I- no- that is- it's not-” she sputters incoherently, glancing up to find her sister looking for all the world like the cat that ate the fattest canary to ever exist. “You're imagining things! Whatever you think you saw was just... circumstantial! There's no deep meaning or intention of any kind behind it!”

If anything, her denial just makes Alex's smug grin grow even wider. “Uh huh. Sure. Whatever you say,” she says as she reaches over to save the glass from Kara's now dangerously tight grip and takes a long leisurely sip of its contents.

Kara fumes silently but the glare she directs at her sister only makes Alex throw her a look of feigned innocence in return so she decides to just focus on her food. She very determinedly does not think about what Alex could be insinuating because whatever it is, she's absolutely wrong and it's a waste of time and effort to so much as think about it because there is _nothing_ to think about. At all.

 

* * *

 

Then Mon-El kisses her.

Not thinking about it is easy because formulating any kind of thought becomes impossible the moment his lips make contact with hers. Sight becomes irrelevant when she instinctively closes her eyes and every sound in the world fades away.

All she does – all she _can_ do – is feel.

And she feels _so much_.

She becomes hyper-aware of every single detail: the softness of his lips, the way they mould around hers, the slight pressure he is asserting – the only other sensation outside of the kiss that registers is the touch of his hand on her cheek. Every nerve in her body is concentrated on those few points and it's like they're on fire.

That impression only intensifies when he pulls away and she opens her eyes; all her other senses return and she feels almost numb and kind of cold as she hears him call her beautiful and watches him fall back onto the bed and into the realm of unconsciousness.

It's almost a good thing that there's the pressing matter of Cadmus and its evil plot to kill every alien on Earth, Kryptonians excluded, to deal with to distract her... not that it keeps her thoughts completely free of Mon-El considering his life hangs in the balance as well. At the very least, she doesn't allow herself to think about what happened until after he wakes up and they can talk about it like the adults they are so she can figure out what she's supposed to think and _feel_ -

-except he doesn't remember.

She doesn't know what to think and she doesn't know how to feel.

So she pretends it's fine, lies through her teeth – _don't crinkle, don't crinkle, don't crinkle_ – and walks away as calmly as possible.

Jumping at the chance to fight off an alien invasion happening on an alternate Earth doesn't count as running away from her problems. (That's what she tells herself anyway.)

 

* * *

 

Kara becomes somewhat – or maybe very; she's not going to try and measure it even if there was a way to do that – self-conscious about making any kind of physical contact with him after that. The sparring sessions are unavoidable but she manages by making them a little less frequent and she tries to tone down the hands-on approach with the rest of her mentoring duties. Thankfully, Mon-El doesn't seem to notice.

Alex, however, does.

“Did something happen?” she asks when she corners Kara after yet another hastily ended training session.

“Nope! Everything is fine! Nothing happened!” Kara stammers as she immediately starts walking a little faster towards the balcony. With any luck, she'll be able to escape this pseudo-interrogation before she says anything she'll regret.

Unfortunately for her, Alex manages to speed up and match her pace easily. Damn her DEO training. “I didn't even need to see you crinkle to know you were lying and as if that wasn't bad enough, you just _had_ to start running away from me the moment I asked that question. This is why you'll never be able to play poker,” she comments dryly. “I only ask because lately you've been the complete opposite when it comes to the way you act around Mon-El compared to what I observed last time. I swear, it seems as if you'd prefer to be anywhere else whenever you're both in the same room.”

“Alex, please.” Realising that she's not going to escape, Kara turns to face her sister and tries a different tactic. “It's nothing. I mean it. I've just... had a lot on my mind lately. That's all.”

Based on the way Alex is frowning, it's clear that she's still unconvinced but she thankfully decides to let it slide. “If you say so. Just... don't hesitate to talk to me about anything, okay? I'm your sister after all.”

“Of course,” Kara smiles and reaches out to playfully punch Alex in the shoulder. She only remembers to hold back at the last second and that just reminds her of her current predicament so she gives an awkward wave and takes off without looking back.

 

* * *

 

She makes an effort to get over it after that. It's hard – really _really_ hard in fact – trying not to think about That Thing That Happened whenever she looks at him and even harder to not openly stare at his lips when he's doing anything like talking or just standing close by. The occasional physical contact that occurs – and this time most of them _are_ accidental – makes her skin tingle like crazy wherever they happen to touch but she does her best to ignore that too.

When she doesn't jump out of her skin upon feeling Mon-El casually sling his arm around her shoulders as they pretend to be a completely normal human couple – a detail of their cover story she pointedly does not focus on – she mentally throws herself a parade.

The universe congratulates her by sending her a nice big helping of red sunlight. It's not exactly the kind of normalcy she was trying to regain, which makes Kara suspect that Rao or whichever divine entity is monitoring her life right now has it out for her.

Still, all's well that ends well: Slaver's Moon is safely in the rear-view mirror and everyone who'd gotten ensnared by Roulette's scheme is back home on Earth with their loved ones. Life is good.

So of course this is what convinces Mon-El to become interested in the superhero lifestyle, cape and all. Which... is good. Yes. She'd like to think that if things had gone as planned and she'd helped to raise Kal, she would've eventually led him down this path as well. This is good. Great, even. She's going to do this and be a great mentor and he's going to become a really awesome superhero under her guidance. This is going to be the new normal and she shows herself that she is going to be able to handle everything by initiating a fist-bump – he's still figuring that one out – and not being weird about any part of it.

 

* * *

 

It works. Up until Livewire pops up, that is.

Then he's disobeying her direct orders and she's yelling at him and questioning his motives and asking if he likes her and she doesn't know why she's asking _that_ of all things because didn't she want to pretend everything was fine and normal so why does she want to know?

She doesn't know. (That's a lie; she does. She just doesn't want to think about it.)

As if things can't get any worse on that front, he shows up at her apartment after the dust has settled and confesses that he remembers the kiss.

Thinking becomes hard.

Even worse, he confesses his motivations behind coming to her assistance instead of listening to her orders.

Processing her feelings becomes impossible.

“Mon-El, I-” she starts even though she's not sure what she wants to say and that's as far as it goes because that's about as far as her brain has gotten with dealing with all this.

He cuts her off and she doesn't know if she's supposed to be thankful or not. “I get that you don't care about me,” he says, which just _hurts_ for some reason.

“I _do_ care about you,” she objects because even if she can't figure out what to think or how to feel, she knows that sentiment is so _wrong_ on so many levels.

“But not in the same way,” Mon-El points out and... and... that's true, right? “It's-” he clears his throat, “It's good.” (It doesn't feel ' _good_ '.) “That's fine.” (None of this feels ' _fine_ '.) “That's... it's okay.” (In no universe could this feeling possibly be described as ' _okay_ '.) “Just... just keep working with me. I-I've been honest about this so let's just... Then we can ignore it, right?” He's smiling. Why is he smiling? “We can let it go. Just put it behind us.”

This is... this is good. Right? She wants things to be normal – no surprises, no weird thoughts, no confusing feelings – and here he is offering just that. It's what she wants.

Right?

So she agrees and they have a frankly ridiculous exchange where she thanks him for being honest and he calls it a “good talk” and they _high five_ over it like this is supposed to be _completely normal_ even though she can't help but feel like he's being an idiot and she's being an idiot and there's no telling which one of them is being the bigger idiot-

Kara lets him walk out of her apartment and thinks that yes, she's probably the bigger idiot in this scenario even if she doesn't know – or won't admit – why that's the case.

Five minutes later, she's still staring at her front door, her palm is still tingling from the high five and she still doesn't know how she's supposed to feel.

 

* * *

 

Avoidance becomes the name of the game; she keeps a foot of space at minimum between them throughout the rare mentoring sessions they still arrange – Winn is more than happy to help Mon-El with any Earth knowledge inquiries that crop up, thankfully – and when they do have their occasional sparring sessions she spends it dodging every single one of his punches and kicks just so she doesn't have to feel his touch.

Their disastrous conversation at the bar where she'd meant to let him down gently but had instead ended up stomping all over his feelings the way Belinda Zee had destroyed her favourite pen in 8th grade further convinces her that this is the right course of action.

It takes a White Martian attack, a conversation with a fake Alex and some gentle sisterly encouragement from the real Alex for Kara to admit to herself that there may be some feelings-based reasons why she likes feeling his touch.

Of course, she has to find out that he's dating Eve just after she's figured it out. Because of course she can't catch a break when it comes to these things.

Wonderful.

Full-on avoidance it is then.

 

* * *

 

Mon-El isn't dating Eve. Not any more, at least. And he'd talked about her throughout that one date. (Does it still count if you only went on one date and it went badly? Why is she even thinking about this at all?)

There are a lot of feelings for Kara to sort out.

She allows herself to feel almost giddy about what this could mean even as she allows herself to feel a little mad at him – and express it to him by extension – for even dating Eve in the first place. It's cathartic up until he asks why she cares.

...It would probably be a good idea for her to save Lena and deal with Lillian first before she addresses _that_.

 

* * *

 

Okay, this is it. She's got what she thinks is a pretty good speech planned out and she's managed to work up the courage to call him and ask him to come over. Amazingly enough, he says yes.

So far, so good.

When he shows up, she stays focused on her goal and doesn't let herself get distracted (not even by how ridiculously handsome and cute he looks- _focus, Kara_ ). To her credit, she manages to get at least part of it out before he starts teasing her and they fall back into their usual playful banter from before things got awkward.

It's great. Perfect, even.

...No no no, she has to get back on track. She worked very hard on this speech and she's not going to let something like his devilish Daxamite charm ruin it. He seems to get the hint because he keeps his mouth shut until she finishes saying her piece.

Funny thing, how both of them find themselves at a loss for words in that moment and all they can say is “Hi”.

Well. There are better things to do than talk anyway. Once she'd finally admitted to herself that she maybe like-liked him, she's been more than a little curious if kissing him while he's not dying is going to have the same effect on her and there really is no better way to find out than to-

Some guy she's never seen before pops up in her apartment – which, what?! – to declare his love for her – again, _what?!_ – and proceeds to make a complete mess of everything.

Somewhere up there, Rao is laughing at her. She's sure of it.

 

* * *

 

There's no lasting damage to the Fortress, she'd managed to kick Mxy back to his dimension and Mon-El's knocking on her front door. Maybe Valentine's Day isn't going to be a complete bust after all.

He starts off by complimenting her and apologises for his behaviour which, considering everything, is a pretty big deal.

Then he calls her his Kryptonite and Kara can't stop herself from smiling.

He corrects himself, saying that he meant it in the context of his feelings for her and oh, _this could really be it_ , she thinks, because he's being adorably nervous as he explains himself and her skin is prickling with all the tension that's building up in the space between them. She wraps her arms around herself in an effort not to reach out and touch him – to calm him or herself, she has no idea – because it's clear that he needs to speak his mind and she wants to know if she's right about where this is going.

“Anyway,” he says with a shrug, “I'll get... I'll get out of your hair.”

Okay, maybe her assumption was a little off. “Wait. Don't go yet,” she blurts out as she moves to block him from leaving and he thankfully gets the message because he stops in his tracks. “Please,” she adds as an afterthought under her breath, now hyper-aware of how much closer he is and she really needs to stop staring at his lips now or she's going to lose the last shred of self-control she's holding on to because... why is she holding back again?

She's saved from the hassle of figuring out that mystery when he starts talking again... except he's acting like a confused puppy and being a noble idiot about respecting her wishes and _Rao_ , why does he have to be so _infuriating_ even when he's being so incredibly sweet?

Cutting him off and explaining the truth is the only logical course of action to take, really, but she still can't stop staring at his lips. It doesn't help that he still looks so endearingly lost so she has to try to play it off and put a bit of distance between them. Maybe this way he can figure it out while she works on regaining a sliver of the bravado that's gotten her this far.

He catches on, thankfully, and she doesn't pass up the chance to rib him a little about his earlier behaviour which he takes in good stride. _This is it_ , she thinks, and manages to confess albeit in a roundabout way although she is unable to stop herself from fidgeting throughout the whole thing. (So much for regaining that bravado.) But at least the truth is out and based on his expression, he knows how she feels.

There is a brief moment of levity, like the calm before a storm, and she can feel it – the tension thick in the air and that indescribable something between them – building with every second that passes and every step that brings him closer to her and this time there's nothing stopping them.

As it turns out, kissing Mon-El while he's in perfect health feels really great.

(The sex is even better.)

 

* * *

 

“Hey, uh... can I ask you something?”

“Hmm?” Engrossed as she is with her current dilemma of which show on her Netflix queue would be best for a night of relaxation free of any crimes or alien attacks that require Supergirl's involvement, Kara doesn't pay much attention to Mon-El's seemingly harmless question.

“Well, it's more of an observation, really,” he rambles a little as he scratches his jaw in nervousness. “It's just... I noticed that you touched me a lot when we were just starting to get to know each other.”

She freezes at that and slowly looks up to meet his contemplative gaze. “Uh...”

The expression on her face must be a pretty good representation of what a small furry creature about to meet its demise courtesy of an 18-wheeler would look like because his eyes widen in mild panic. “I'm not trying to insinuate or accuse you of anything,” he hurries to reassure her as he reaches out to clasp her hands but not before carefully removing the remote from her nerveless fingers. “I was just curious. I mean, I know half the stuff in Daxam's records about Krypton was pure propaganda but I'm very sure it's a fact that your society wasn't that big on physical contact in general. At first I thought it was an Earth thing you'd picked up after so many years of living on this planet but then I watched you with everyone else and you were a lot more reserved when it came to touching them so that didn't fit either.”

“Um... well... that's...” she flounders, unsure of how to answer such an unexpected question. So he _had_ noticed from the beginning. What is she supposed to say?

“You don't have to explain if you don't want to,” he offers kindly, rubbing soothing circles on her palms with his thumbs.

His actions both calm her nerves a little and give her the slight boost of confidence she needs. “No, I want to,” she corrects him with a shake of her head. “Just... just give me a minute.” Her original plans for the night now all but forgotten, she sits up straight on the couch but doesn't pull her hands free from his grasp. “You're right about Krypton; we weren't exactly big on the physical displays of affection. While it did happen, it was pretty infrequent. Then I arrived on Earth, got my powers and suddenly the whole touching thing became a big deal. I mean, you have no idea how many glasses and mugs I destroyed in my first month alone of living with the Danvers because I couldn't control my strength.”

“Ah,” he nods in understanding. “The shattered toes and broken noses.”

“Exactly.” She draws a steadying breath before continuing. “It wasn't just that though. The invulnerability part of my powers meant that I could barely feel anything especially when it came to anyone touching me. No matter how tightly Jeremiah, Eliza or Alex hugged me, it barely registered. I figured out quickly that I could only feel someone's touch if they were about as strong as I was which meant other strong aliens. I didn't meet any until I moved to National City and even then, there was the fact that most of them were bad guys. To top it off, I couldn't exactly mix with the regular ones because there was always the risk of exposing my secret identity.”

“And then I came along,” he finishes, unwittingly quoting a line from her first confession. “I had super-strength but wasn't trying to kill you and I was already aware of your secret identity. You didn't have to hold back or hide your true self with me.”

“Mhm.” For some reason, admitting it all out loud and to Mon-El no less makes Kara feel a little self-conscious. “I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable or anything-”

“Hey, don't do that.” He gives her a reassuring smile. “Even if we weren't together right now, I would've been fine with it. You deserve every opportunity you get to feel normal even if – _especially_ if – it's something so mundane.”

How did she get this lucky, she wonders as she tries to suppress the butterflies wreaking havoc in her stomach. “Yeah?” she mumbles, smiling tentatively back at him.

“Yeah.” His smile widens. “And since we _are_ together, I am at your disposal at all times.” As if to emphasise his point, he brings her hands up to his mouth so that he can plant a soft kiss to both her knuckles and lets her revel in the simple fact that she can feel the gesture.

 

* * *

 

It's like a switch has been flipped after that.

Aside from the kissing, Kara doesn't miss a chance to hold his hand, twine their fingers together or simply link arms with him when they go out. Out of all the times they brush up against each other, more than half of them are entirely intentional instead of accidental. It's pretty silly but one of the side perks of all this is she can yank him across the street to look at someone's dog without having to worry about ripping his arm off. (It gets so bad Alex occasionally throws whatever she has available at them with a half-playful half-annoyed yell of “Get a room, you two!” much to Kara's embarrassment and Mon-El's amusement.)

For his part, Mon-El stays true to his promise and lets her do as she likes. He even obliges her by initiating some of the touches himself. They're mostly innocent and casual gestures like tapping her on the shoulder to get her attention or nudging her with his thigh to get her to move when she won't relinquish control of the computer. He's more than happy to kiss her every chance he gets too although he's also prone to sweet gestures such as tucking stray locks of hair behind her ear.

Then there are the less than innocent touches.

Sometimes he brushes his fingertips against the back of her neck in a way that sends shivers down her spine. Other times all he has to do is stroke the sliver of skin on her side that reveals itself when her shirt rides up with his thumb. Even something as innocuous as tracing meaningless shapes on the inside of her wrists is able to derail her train of thought with startling efficiency. It must be because he's a Daxamite. That's the only plausible explanation for how he knows how to wind her up so easily.

Regardless of the reason, these touches have one effect and one effect alone: they drive her absolutely _insane_.

They also tend to always lead to the same outcome.

“I think I regret taking you up on your offer that day,” she finds herself saying to the ceiling of her bedroom once she regains the physical and mental ability to string more than two words together.

Next to her, Mon-El laughs breathlessly. “No you don't,” he counters easily and she doesn't have to look over to know that he's grinning rather smugly as he says it.

He's right but her pride certainly isn't going to let her admit it. “Yes I do,” she argues back albeit without any real fire.

The weak argument barely leaves her lips before he rolls over and begins trailing kisses along her jaw while his left hand slides up her right thigh. “No you don't,” he repeats lazily, murmuring his retort against her skin.

“Really? Again?” She had meant the words to come out as an exasperated groan, she really had, but instead they emerge as a needy gasp.

His response isn't a verbal one which, well. That's fine. She can argue with him about this later. Much, much later.

 

* * *

 

“Kara? You okay?”

She blinks and reality reasserts itself. The woman across the street continues walking, oblivious to the fact that she's being stared at by a complete stranger.

“Kara?”

The sound of her name and the sensation of her hand being squeezed draws her attention back to her immediate surroundings. She turns to find Mon-El regarding her rather worriedly, his concern for her clear in his eyes even through his civilian identity glasses. “What happened? You just stopped walking all of a sudden.”

“Nothing.” Forget the crinkle; she doesn't even sound convincing to her own ears. “I just... thought I saw someone.”

He must read something in her voice or face because a look of understanding crosses his face and he offers her a comforting smile. “Come on, let's head home.”

Neither of them say anything until they're back in her apartment and both their glasses have been put away, leaving Kara Danvers and Mike Matthews behind in favour of being Kara Zor-El and Mon-El. Wordlessly, he guides her to the couch and lets her sit down while he kneels before her before speaking again. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asks carefully as he clasps both her hands and tangles their fingers together.

“There was a woman in the crowd just now.” Somehow, she's able to force the words out past the lump in her throat. “It was a glimpse and a second glance confirmed I'd imagined it but...” She swallows and takes a deep steadying breath before continuing. “I thought she looked like my mother. My birth mother Alura.”

“Ah.” Seemingly at a loss for words, he takes a moment to formulate a response. “Well, at least it wasn't me thinking I saw my mother,” he tries to lighten the mood with a joke and a small grin.

It's a rather terrible attempt at cheering her up but she finds the corners of her lips twitching anyway. “Thank Rao,” she chuckles weakly.

“Is there anything you need me to do?” he asks when silence descends around them once more.

She shakes her head and squeezes his hands in gratitude. “Just being here for me is enough.”

He eyes her carefully, seemingly weighing his next words in his mind before giving voice to them. “I can do a bit better than that. I think. If you want.”

Mon-El's halting speech, if not his choice of words, certainly catches her attention. “What do you mean?”

“Did your mother ever sing to you?”

The unexpected question throws her for a loop and it takes Kara a moment to process it. “Um... yes. Usually when I was feeling sick. Why?”

“I could sing for you if it'll help you feel better,” he offers cautiously, clearly unsure about how she's going to respond.

To say she's surprised would be an understatement. “You know Kryptonian? And Kryptonian songs at that?”

Her question is met with a casual shrug. “The Kryptonian lessons were considered necessary considering I was expected to be able to deal with your planet's envoys if and when they visited me in my capacity as the crown prince and as king once my father abdicated. As for the songs... well, there's a bit of a story behind that.” He pauses to gauge her reaction and when she gives him an encouraging nod, he continues. “The tutor assigned to teach me Kryptonian was this old man everyone in the royal court considered crazy because he was actually interested in learning about Krypton's culture as well. He used to tell me that it was pointless to learn a language without first understanding the society that birthed it so he taught me everything he knew even though it wasn't all that much in the end. That included, among other things, a few songs.”

“He sounds like a brilliant man,” she comments softly; it's clear that Mon-El looked up to him.

“He was,” Mon-El murmurs wistfully before shaking off the air of melancholy threatening to consume him in favour of focusing his gaze back on her. “I'll tell you more about him another time. Right now I want to concentrate on you. What do you want?”

Not for the first time, she wonders how she managed to get this lucky in the one area of her life she'd once thought was cursed. “I'd like to hear you sing, if that's okay with you,” she answers shyly.

He nods and offers her a small smile. “Of course. Since it's late, how about we wash up and go to bed first?”

The emotional exhaustion of being abruptly reminded of her mother is starting to get to her so she readily agrees. “Lead the way,” she tells him and lets him gently pull her to her feet.

It's not long before she's in her comfiest pyjamas and crawling into bed to curl up against his side, tangling their legs together and wrapping her arms around him in the process. He reciprocates by slinging an arm around her waist and waiting patiently for her to make herself as comfortable as possible before hesitantly singing. It takes hearing just the first few lines for her to recognise the tune as a rather old hymn about an explorer's reminiscence of Krypton while travelling the galaxy.

It's an appropriate choice, Kara finds herself thinking as she slowly drifts into the realm of dreams. Aware of the warmth of his body, the slight pressure of his arm around her and the soothing rumble in his chest as he continues to sing, she can't help but feel a little like somewhere along the way, he's become home to her.

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you who suffered thanks to my previous fic, I hope this one was fluffy enough to make up for that act of cruelty on my part. (Just be warned that there's more angst in the pipeline.)
> 
> On an unrelated note, this may sound a bit random but can anyone with some measure of comic knowledge help me confirm that Daxamites' hearts are on the right side of their chest? I read it somewhere but can't find the source anymore and I don't want to get such an important fact wrong in my future fics.


End file.
